Eternal Security and Once Saved Always Saved

Let’s begin by defining what a sinner is. Let’s start with this scripture from the book of Romans:

But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. After we’re saved in Jesus Christ, we are no longer sinners. This is the reason Jesus died for us, so that we’ll not be sinners. But what is a sinner? A sinner is someone who continues to deliberately sin. Let’s look at this scripture from James, the brother of the Lord:

consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins. (James 5:20)

From this scripture, we know that a sinner is someone who is in “the error of his way.” Let’s listen to Jesus:

In the same way, I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones who do not need to repent. (Luke 15:7)

We know from this scripture that a “sinner” is someone in need of repentance and “righteous ones” do not need to repent. So, we have sinners, and we have righteous ones. We can’t be both. In the following scripture, the apostle Peter quotes from Proverbs 11:31:

And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” (1 Peter 4:18)

This scripture differentiates between the righteous and the sinner. Let’s look at this scripture:

On hearing this, Jesus told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17)

From this scripture, we know that the righteous are healthy, and sinners are sick and in need of a doctor, that is, Jesus. Let’s go to the parallel scripture in Luke, in which Jesus adds the phrase to repentance:

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Luke 5:32)

Let’s go to the gospel of John and read this scripture:

Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. (John 9:31)

God doesn’t hear sinners. Let’s look at this scripture:

When Jesus returned the third time, He said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? That is enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. (Mark 14:41)

Sinners are those who are destroyed on the day of the Lord:

Behold, the Day of the LORD is coming—cruel, with fury and burning anger—to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners within it. (Isaiah 13:9)

We’re given the apostle Paul as an example that we can be the worst sinners and still receive forgiveness:

15 This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. 16 But for this very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:15-16)

Here’s Jesus:

34 Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:34-36)

We are set free from the slavery of sin and death.

For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)

Now we have the power to resist sin’s temptations. Now let’s look at some scriptures to see if the doctrine of Eternal Security is true. Let’s begin in John 6, which many reference in regard to once saved always saved:

And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. (John 6:39)

In the context of this scripture, Jesus is speaking of the apostles who were with him at that time, and we know this from John 18:

8 “I told you that I am He,” Jesus replied. “So if you are looking for Me, let these men go.” 9 This was to fulfill the word He had spoken: “I have not lost one of those You have given Me.” (John 18:8-9)

Let’s read this scripture:

My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. (John 10:29)

This scripture is true. No one can take us out of God’s hand, but we can take ourselves out of God’s hand by unbelief and disobedience. Let’s use the following scripture as evidence:

Since, then, it remains for some to enter His rest, and since those who formerly heard the good news did not enter because of their disobedience, (Hebrews 4:6)

This scripture says that those who formerly heard the “good news” (Greek—euangelisthentes: to announce good news, especially the gospel) didn’t enter into God’s rest because of disobedience. Let’s go back to Hebrews 3:

18 And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that it was because of their unbelief that they were unable to enter. (Hebrews 3:18-19)

From verse 19, we know that disobedience is unbelief. So, believing is being obedient because obedience comes from faith, as it says in Romans 1:5. Let’s end the argument:

4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age— 6 and then have fallen away—to be restored again to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6)

Verse 4 says, “Shared in the Holy Spirit.” Only a believer can share in the Holy Spirit. How can an unbeliever or someone ‘who wasn’t saved in the first place’ share in the Holy Spirit? They can’t. If they had the Holy Spirit at one time, they were believers, and they had faith. The book of Hebrews is speaking to those with faith. Let’s continue with these scriptures from Luke 12:

42 And the Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their portion at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But suppose that servant says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and he begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day he does not anticipate and at an hour he does not expect. Then He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. (Luke 12:42-46)

If the unfaithful servant is assigned a place with “the unbelievers”, as it says in verse 46, this means he must have been a believer. If this believer is cut to pieces and assigned a place with the unbelievers, is he still saved? Let’s look at the two lesser degrees of punishment:

47 That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who unknowingly does things worthy of punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from him who has been entrusted with much, even more will be demanded. (Luke 12:47-48)

Jesus has spoken to us about three degrees of punishment. Here’s where we should be:

Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them. (Luke 12:37)

Let’s go back to verse 46.  To “cut him to pieces” sounds harsh.  But the original Greek word is dichotomesei, which means to bisect, or “to divide in two parts”.  To understand what Jesus is talking about, let’s go to Jeremiah and listen to God in the context of his people Israel:

And those who have transgressed My covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before Me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces. (Jeremiah 34:18)

Cutting a carcass in two and passing between the pieces came from a covenant between God and Abram (later Abraham) from Genesis 15:9-18.  The Jews had obviously been using this.

Let’s further prove that once saved always saved is a false teaching.  Here’s the apostle Paul:

19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 That is correct: They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant but be afraid. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you either. 22 Take notice, therefore, of the kindness and severity of God: severity to those who fell, but kindness to you, if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. (Romans 11:19-22)

Verse 20 says, “You stand by faith.” This is how we know that Paul is talking to believers. Then Paul says, “Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you either.” This proves that people with faith can be “cut off,” and they can be cut off by disobedience and unbelief. These people are those “who fell” from verse 22. If we fall away, God can cut us off.

He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful. (John 15:2)

If we’re a branch in Jesus and we’re cut off, are we still saved? What’s this fruit that Jesus talks about? Let’s go to Galatians:

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Now let’s look at the acts of the flesh:

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; 20 idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

In verse 21 Paul says, “I warn you.” So, Paul is speaking to believers in these scriptures. Are unbelievers going to hell for their sin but believers who continue to deliberately sin aren’t? If we ask false teachers why not, they might say it’s because we believe in Jesus. If we’re remaining in our sins, we’re not believing in the words of Jesus, who is the Word. We don’t have faith because obedience comes from faith. False teachers also might say that if believers are trying not to sin, they’re doing a “work,” that is, they’re trying to save themselves and not fully trusting in the Lord for salvation. All these things are heretical. In the context of false teachers, let’s listen to the apostle Peter:

1 Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed. (2 Peter 2:1-2)

Peter says these false teachers, who were bought by the Lord, will “deny” him (Greek word arnéomai – properly, deny (refuse); hence, contradict, refuse to affirm or to confess (identify with); disown (repudiate). The word contradict is more accurate in the context of this scripture rather than the word denying. False teachers will contradict the Master that purchased them. Some false teachers say we don’t have to repent; Jesus Christ says we do. Because of this, they will bring “swift destruction” on themselves. Let’s look at the word destruction used in verse 1:

apóleia: destruction, loss. Original Word: ἀπώλεια, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: apóleia
Phonetic Spelling: (ap-o’-li-a)
Definition: destruction, loss
Usage: destruction, ruin, loss, perishing; eternal ruin.

If these false teachers bring destruction on themselves, are they still saved? Let’s listen to the apostle Paul:

For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. (2 Timothy 4:3)

They say to the seers, “No more visions,” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth. Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions. (Isaiah 30:10)

Let’s not listen to false teachers who tell people simply what they want to hear. Let’s not deceive ourselves into thinking it’s ok to sin. We must practice righteousness, and the spirit of Jesus inside us gives us the ability to do that (see 2 Peter 1:3). Sin is a choice. Ultimately, God will judge the motives of the heart. But if we love the Lord and our neighbors as ourselves and we’re obedient to Jesus Christ, we don’t even have to worry about eternal security.

Let’s continue to disprove eternal security with the following scripture:

You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. (Galatians 5:4)

If these believers in Galatia who were trying to be justified by the law of Moses fall away from grace and are severed from Christ, are they still saved? To be severed from Christ means that we would have to have been in Christ at one time. Here’s Paul near the end of his life:

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7)

Have we finished running the race set out for us? Have we crossed the finish line yet? In 1 Peter 1:9, the apostle Peter tells us that our faith has a goal, and that goal is the salvation of our souls.

Some false teachers agree that sin leads to death, but they say it’s only physical death, but we’ll still be saved. They’re ingenious at twisting the scriptures. Let’s read this scripture from James again:

consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins. (James 5:20)

If our soul suffers death, are we still saved? The soul and the body are two different things (see Matthew 10:28). Let’s go back to verse 19 and read the scriptures in context:

19 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20 consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins. (James 5:19-20)

James is talking to believers, and in verse 19 he says, “If one of you should wander from the truth.” So, in this context, the sinner is someone who was in the truth and has wandered from the truth. If we should die in a state of disobedience, there’s no reason to believe we would be saved at all. We have to return home to our father like the prodigal son.

Let’s go to Ephesians:

13 And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)

Verse 13 says, “Believed the word of truth.”  We shouldn’t wander from the truth.  If we wander from the truth, we’re in unbelief.  We’re not believing the word of truth.   In verse 14, the word pledge is used for the Greek word arrabon which means, “Part of the purchase-money or property given in advance as security for the rest.”  “Part” is not “all.”  Although seals can be broken such as on the scroll in Revelation 6, a person who falls away actually wants to remain in their sins.  Let’s continue in Ephesians 4:

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)

What is grieving the Holy Spirit?  Let’s go to Isaiah:

But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy and He Himself fought against them. (Isaiah 63:10)

Grieving the Holy Spirit is rebelling against God, and Paul tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit.

Sinners are those who are in the error of their ways. There are many who have wandered from the truth, and their souls will suffer death unless they return. Let’s read another scripture that false teachers use to justify eternal security:

if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:13)

This scripture says, “He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.” This scripture means that Jesus Christ must be faithful to his own righteous and holy character, not to people who are faithless. If we are faithless, we don’t have faith, and we know from Romans 1:5 and 16:26 that obedience comes from faith, from start to finish. So, if we don’t have faith, we’re in disobedience even though we might believe. If we’re continuing to deliberately sin, we’re not only in disobedience, we’re in unbelief because we’re not believing in the words of Jesus. We begin our obedience to Christ Jesus when we repent and believe the gospel. We confess the Lord as savior and grow spiritually from infants on milk to maturity on solid food. If our obedience stops, we’ve wandered from the truth.

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome, (1 John 5:3)

Let’s look at this scripture:

I have told you these things so that you will not fall away. (John 16:1)

Jesus knew that Peter would turn back:

But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:32)

Peter denied Jesus three times. Jesus forgave him three times and told him to feed his sheep (see John 21:17). Feeding the sheep is the good food. False teachers feed people unclean food that defiles the soul. The apostle Peter can represent the faithful and wise manager from the parable in Luke 12:42 who “gives them their portion at the proper time.” Let’s not lose the love we had at first like the church in Ephesus. Here’s Jesus speaking to the church in Thyatira:

Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. (Revelation 2:23)

If Jesus strikes dead the sexually immoral with the sword of his mouth as in this scripture, are they still saved? It’s the sword of the word of God that will condemn people on the last day.

Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day, (John 12:48)

As a new creation, we grow spiritually from an infants to maturity in Christ. Every temptation to sin that we let pass strengthens us a little for the next wave. This is how we build endurance. Breaking with sin isn’t overnight. God knows this. He is patient, loving, merciful, and forgiving, like a good father. If we sin from human weakness, we go to Jesus to ask for forgiveness:

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2)

Verse 2 says that Jesus is the atoning “sacrifice” for our sins. Keeping this in mind, let’s go to Hebrews:

26 If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries. (Hebrews 10:26-27)

Verse 26 says no further “sacrifice” for sins remains. There’s a false teaching that says this scripture is talking about animal sacrifices and not Jesus’s once-for-all sacrifice on the cross. We know this scripture is talking about Jesus’s sacrifice by going back to verse 12:

But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. (Hebrews 10:12; see also 7:27)

This scripture says that Jesus Christ offered for all time., one sacrifice for our sins. We know that these scriptures are talking about past sins because the epistles speak of our past sins being forgiven (see 2 Peter 1:9 and Romans 3:25). Nowhere in the Bible does it talk about the forgiveness of future sins. When priests offered animal sacrifices for atonement in the Old Testament, was it for future sins? No, it was for sins committed unintentionally (see Leviticus 4:27):

But only the high priest entered the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. (Hebrews 9:7)

Let’s verify this in the book of Numbers:

27 Also, if one person sins unintentionally, he is to present a year-old female goat as a sin offering. 28 And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD on behalf of the person who erred by sinning unintentionally; and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven. 29 You shall have the same law for the one who acts in error, whether he is a native-born Israelite or a foreigner residing among you. (Numbers 15:27-29)

Jesus is our sacrifice for these sins now. Let’s read about deliberate sins:

30 But the person who sins defiantly, whether a native or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That person shall be cut off from among his people.  31 He shall certainly be cut off, because he has despised the word of the LORD and broken His commandment; his guilt remains on him.” (Numbers 15:30-31)

Let’s go back to this scripture from Hebrews 10:

If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains, (Hebrews 10:26)

If we sin from human weakness, we go to Jesus to ask for forgiveness. In these last days, let’s die to sin and live to righteousness. Let’s receive God’s promise of eternal life by doing the right thing. Let’s love the Lord our God and stay obedient to the commandments.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)